Processed object processing apparatus, processed object processing method, pressure control method, processed object transfer method, and transfer apparatus

ABSTRACT

A processed object processing apparatus which enables a plurality of processes to be carried out efficiently. A plurality of treatment systems are communicably connected together in a line and in which the objects to be processed are processed. A load lock system is communicably connected to the treatment systems and has a transfer mechanism that transfers the objects to be processed into and out of each of the treatment systems. At least one of the treatment systems is a vacuum treatment system, and the load lock system is disposed in a position such as to form a line with the treatment systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a processed object processingapparatus that processes objects to be processed, a processed objectprocessing method, a pressure control method, a processed objecttransfer method, and a transfer apparatus, and in particular relates toa processed object processing apparatus that carries out CVD (chemicalvapor deposition) or COR (chemical oxide removal) as an alternative todry etching or wet etching, and more particularly, relates to aprocessed object processing apparatus comprising a plurality oftreatment systems, a processed object transfer method for transferringthe processed object therethrough, and a pressure control method forcontrolling a pressure therethrough.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] From hitherto, etching has been carried out to shape thin filmsusing a chemical reaction. In general, the etching process forms a setwith a lithography process; in the lithography process, a resist patternis formed, and then in the etching process the thin film is shaped inaccordance with the resist pattern that has been formed.

[0005] There are two types of etching, dry etching and wet etching. Themost common type of dry etching is parallel plate reactive ion etching.With parallel plate reactive ion etching, a vacuum treatment chamber ofa vacuum treatment apparatus (processed object processing apparatus) isput into a vacuum state, a wafer, which is an object to be processed, isput into the vacuum treatment chamber, and then an etching gas isintroduced into the vacuum treatment chamber.

[0006] Inside the vacuum treatment chamber are provided a stage on whichthe wafer is placed, and an upper electrode which is parallel to andfaces a wafer-placing surface of thee stage. A high-frequency voltage isapplied to the stage, whereupon the etching gas is made into a plasma.Charged particles such as positive and negative ions and electrons,neutral active species that act as etching species, and so on existscattered around in the plasma. When an etching species is adsorbed ontoa thin film on the wafer surface, a chemical reaction occurs at thewafer surface, and then products thus produced separate away from thewafer surface and are exhausted outside the vacuum treatment chamber,whereby etching proceeds. Moreover, depending on the conditions, theetching species may be sputtered onto the wafer surface, whereby etchingproceeds through a physical reaction.

[0007] Here, the high-frequency electric field is applied to the wafersurface perpendicularly thereto, and hence the etching species(radicals) also move in a direction perpendicular to the wafer surface.The etching thus proceeds in the direction perpendicular to the wafersurface, rather than proceeding isotropically over the wafer surface.That is, the etching does not spread sideways across the wafer surface.Dry etching is thus suitable for microprocessing.

[0008] However, with dry etching, to carry out high-precisionmicroprocessing conforming to a resist pattern, it is necessary to makethe ratio between the etching rate for the material to be etched and theetching rate for the resist material high, and take care over etchingdamage caused by contamination with impurities, the occurrence ofcrystal defects and so on.

[0009] With wet etching, on the other hand, there is a dipping method inwhich the wafer is immersed in an etching bath containing a liquidchemical, and a spinning method in which a liquid chemical is sprayedonto the wafer while rotating the wafer. In either case, the etchingproceeds isotropically, and hence sideways etching occurs. Consequently,wet etching cannot be used in microprocessing. Note, however, that wetetching is used even nowadays for processes such as completely removinga thin film.

[0010] Moreover, an example of a method of forming a thin film using achemical reaction is CVD (chemical vapor deposition). With CVD, two ormore reactant gases are reacted in the vapor phase or in the vicinity ofthe surface of a wafer or the like, and a product produced through thereaction is formed on the wafer surface as a thin film. At this time,the wafer is heated, and hence activation energy is supplied to thereactant gases by thermal radiation from the heated wafer, whereby thereaction of the reactant gases is excited.

[0011] Conventionally, in the manufacture of integrated circuits andother electronic devices for flat panel displays and so on, vacuumtreatment apparatuses have been used to carry out various types oftreatment such as film formation including CVD as described above,oxidation, diffusion, etching for shaping as described above, andannealing. Such a vacuum treatment apparatus is generally comprised ofat least one load lock chamber, at least one transfer chamber, and atleast one treatment chamber. At least two types of such vacuum treatmentapparatus are known.

[0012] One type is a multi-chamber type vacuum treatment apparatus. Sucha vacuum treatment apparatus is comprised of three to six processchambers as vacuum treatment chambers, a vacuum preparation chamber(load lock chamber) having a transfer mechanism for transferringsemiconductor wafers, i.e. objects to be processed, into and out of eachof the process chambers, a polygonal transfer chamber around which aredisposed the process chambers and the load lock chamber and which has inperipheral walls thereof a plurality of connecting ports forcommunicating in gas-tight fashion with the process chambers and theload lock chamber via gate valves, and a transfer arm that is providedinside the transfer chamber and is able to turn, elongate and contract(see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (Kokai) No.H08-46013).

[0013] Moreover, the other type is a vacuum treatment apparatus havingchambers in a straight line. Such a vacuum treatment apparatus has avacuum treatment chamber in which etching is carried out onsemiconductor wafers, and a load lock chamber having built therein ascalar type single pick type or scalar type twin pick type transfer armas transfer means for carrying out handover of the wafers between theload lock chamber and the vacuum treatment chamber. That is, a vacuumtreatment chamber and a load lock chamber having a transfer arm builttherein are taken as one module (see, for example, Japanese Laid-openPatent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-53131 and Japanese Laid-open PatentPublication (Kokai) No. 2000-150618).

[0014] In either of the types of vacuum treatment apparatus describedabove, switching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressurestate is carried out in the load lock chamber, and smooth wafer transferis realized between a loader that transfers the wafer set in a wafercarrier and a vacuum treatment chamber.

[0015] In the case of etching treatment, with either of the types ofvacuum treatment apparatus, it has been that a high-frequency voltage isapplied to an etching gas (reactive treatment gas) that has beenintroduced into a vacuum treatment chamber, thus making the reactivetreatment gas into a plasma, whereby etching is carried out. With thisdry etching, the etching treatment is carried out with excellentperpendicular anisotropy due to the etching species being controlledaccording to the applied voltage, and hence etching can be carried outin conformance with the required line width for lithography.

[0016] However, there have been advances in the development ofmicroprocessing technology with regard to a photolithography process ofburning circuit patterns onto wafer surfaces, and amid this a process inwhich exposure is carried out with ultraviolet radiation from a KrFexcimer laser (wavelength 248 nm) as a photolithography light source hasbeen put into practice, and moreover a process in which an ArF excimerlaser having a yet shorter wavelength (193 nm) is used is in the processof being put into practice. Furthermore, photolithography using an F₂laser (wavelength 157 nm); which enables formation of a fine pattern ofline width 70 nm or less, has become the top contender for thenext-generation process of 2005. However, a resist material that enables1:1 line-and-space fine patterning with a line width of 65 nm or less ata film thickness of 150 to 200 nm without loss of dry etching resistancehas not yet been developed, and with conventional resist materials apractical problem of particle contamination due to outgassing arises,and hence fine patterning by anisotropic dry etching is approaching itslimit.

[0017] There are thus hopes on COR (chemical oxide removal) as a fineetching treatment method as an alternative to dry etching or wetetching. With COR, gas molecules are subjected to chemical reaction andproducts produced are attached to an oxide film on an object to beprocessed (wafer), and then the wafer is heated to remove the product,whereby a line width finer than that of a lithography pattern can beobtained. Moreover, COR involves mild isotropic etching; the etchingrate is controlled through parameters such as the pressure, the gasconcentrations, the gas concentration ratio, the treatment temperature,the gas flow rates, and the gas flow rate ratio, and the etching stopsthrough the treatment amount saturating beyond a certain treatment timeperiod. The desired etching rate can thus be obtained by controlling thesaturation point.

[0018] Such COR is suitable for the manufacture of a sub-0.1 μm metaloxide semiconductor field effect transistor device comprised of aminimum-thickness poly-depletion layer, source/drain junctions having ametal silicide layer formed thereon, and very low sheet resistancepoly-gates, the manufacture using a damascene-gate process comprised ofsource/drain diffusion activation annealing, and metal silicidationwhich occurs immediately before a dummy gate region that is subsequentlyremoved and replaced with a polysilicon gate region (see, for example,the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6440808).

[0019] With vacuum treatment apparatuses that carry out conventionaletching treatment, there are demands for it to be possible to carry outa plurality of processes more efficiently. Moreover, for vacuumtreatment apparatuses that carry out COR treatment or CVD treatment,treatment to cool wafers that have been heated through the COR treatmentor CVD treatment is required, and hence there are again demands for itto be possible to carry out a plurality of processes more efficiently.However, with conventional vacuum treatment apparatuses, as describedabove, switching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressurestate is carried out in a load lock chamber, and yet the load lockchamber contains both a transfer arm and a cooling mechanism for coolingwafers, and hence the volume of the load lock chamber inevitably becomeslarge, and thus the switching between the vacuum state and theatmospheric pressure state requires much time. Moreover, a wafer thathas been transferred into the load lock chamber is exposed to airconvection due to the switching between the vacuum state and theatmospheric pressure state for a long time, and hence there is a risk ofattachment of particles caused to fly up by the convection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0020] It is an object of the present invention to provide a processedobject processing apparatus that processes objects to be processed, aprocessed object processing method, a pressure control method, aprocessed object transfer method, and a transfer apparatus, which enablea plurality of processes to be carried out efficiently.

[0021] To attain the above object, in a first aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object processing apparatusthat processes objects to be processed, comprising a plurality oftreatment systems that are communicably connected together in a line andin which the objects to be processed are processed, and a load locksystem that is communicably connected to the treatment systems, the loadlock system having a transfer mechanism that transfers the objects to beprocessed into and out of each of the treatment systems, and at leastone of the treatment systems is a vacuum treatment system, and the loadlock system is disposed in a position such as to form a line with thetreatment systems.

[0022] To attain the above object, in a second aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object processing apparatusthat processes objects to be processed, comprising a COR treatmentsystem in which the objects to be processed are subjected to CORtreatment, at least one vacuum treatment system in which the objects tobe processed are subjected to other treatment, the COR treatment systemand the at least one vacuum treatment system being communicablyconnected together in a line, and a load lock system that iscommunicably connected to the COR treatment system and the at least onevacuum treatment system, the load lock system having a transfermechanism that transfers the objects to be processed into and out ofeach of the COR treatment system and the at least one vacuum treatmentsystem.

[0023] Preferably, the at least one vacuum treatment system is a heattreatment system that is connected to the COR treatment system, heattreatment is carried out on objects to be processed that have beensubjected to the COR treatment.

[0024] More preferably, the COR treatment system and the heat treatmentsystem are always in a vacuum state.

[0025] Still more preferably, the load lock system is disposed in aposition such as to form a line with the at least one vacuum treatmentsystem.

[0026] To attain the above object, in a third aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object processing method for aprocessed object processing apparatus including at least a load locksystem, a COR treatment system in which objects to be processed aresubjected to COR treatment, a heat treatment system in which heattreatment is carried on the objects to be processed that have beensubjected to the COR treatment, and a loader module communicablyconnected to the load lock system, the method comprising a first loadlock system transfer-in step of transferring a first object to beprocessed into the load lock system, a first evacuating step ofevacuating the load lock system after execution of the first load locksystem transfer-in step, a first COR treatment system transfer-in stepof transferring the first object to be processed into the COR treatmentsystem after the evacuation in the first evacuating step has beencompleted, a COR treatment commencement step of commencing COR treatmenton the first object to be processed, a second lock system transfer-instep of transferring a second object to be processed into the load locksystem during the COR treatment on the first object to be processed, asecond evacuating step of evacuating the load lock system afterexecution of the second load lock system transfer-in step, a firsttransfer step of transferring the first object to be processed from theCOR treatment system into the heat treatment system after the evacuationin the second evacuating step has been completed and after the CORtreatment on the first object to be processed has been completed, asecond transfer step of transferring the object to be processed from theload lock system into the COR treatment system, a simultaneous treatmentcommencement step of commencing COR treatment on the second object to beprocessed in the COR treatment system, and commencing heat treatment onthe first object to be processed in the heat treatment system, a thirdtransfer step of transferring the first object to be processed from theheat treatment system into the load lock system after the heat treatmenton the first object to be processed has been completed, and a replacingstep of communicating the load lock system and the loader module withone another to replace the first object to be processed in the load locksystem with a third object to be processed waiting in the loader module.

[0027] To attain the above object, in a fourth aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a pressure control method for a processedobject processing apparatus comprising at least a load lock system, aCOR treatment system in which objects to be processed are subjected toCOR treatment, a heat treatment system in which heat treatment iscarried out on objects to be processed that have been subjected to theCOR treatment, and a loader module from and into which the objects to beprocessed are transferred into and from the load lock system, the methodcomprising a transfer-in step of placing the load lock system into anatmospheric pressure state and transferring an object to be processedthat has not been subjected to COR treatment from the loader module intothe load lock system, while evacuating the heat treatment system, a loadlock system evacuating step of terminating the evacuation of the heattreatment system, and evacuating the load lock system down to a setpressure, a heat treatment system evacuating step of terminating theevacuation of the load lock system after the load lock system hasreached the set pressure, and evacuating the heat treatment system so asto satisfy a condition that pressure inside the heat treatment system isless than pressure inside the load lock system, and a firstcommunicating step of communicating the load lock system with the heattreatment system while continuing to exhaust the heat treatment systemafter the condition that the pressure inside the heat treatment systemis less than the pressure inside the load lock system has beensatisfied.

[0028] Preferably, the pressure control method according to the fourthaspect of the present invention further comprises a first pressuremonitoring step of monitoring the pressure inside the heat treatmentsystem, after execution of the first communicating step, a COR treatmentsystem exhausting step of exhausting the COR treatment system whilecontinuing to exhaust the heat treatment system such as to satisfy acondition that the pressure inside the heat treatment system is lessthan pressure inside the COR treatment system, and a secondcommunicating step of terminating the exhaustion of the COR treatmentsystem when the condition that the pressure inside the heat treatmentsystem is less than the pressure inside the COR treatment system hasbeen satisfied, and communicating the heat treatment system with the CORtreatment system while continuing to exhaust the heat treatment system.

[0029] More preferably, the pressure control method according to thefourth aspect of the present invention further comprises an influx stepof introducing fluid into the load lock system and the COR treatmentsystem, after execution of the second communicating step.

[0030] Still more preferably, a flow rate of fluid from the load locksystem into the heat treatment system, and a flow rate of fluid from theCOR treatment system into the heat treatment system are equal to oneanother.

[0031] Also preferably, the pressure control method according to thefourth aspect of the present invention further comprises an exhaustingstep of exhausting the heat treatment system and the COR treatment, thussetting the pressure inside the COR treatment system to a staticelimination pressure for eliminating residual ESC charge, after anobject to be processed that has been subjected to the COR treatment hasbeen transferred out from the COR treatment system.

[0032] To attain the above object, in a fifth aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a pressure control method for a processedobject processing apparatus including at least a COR treatment system inwhich objects to be processed are subjected to COR treatment, and a heattreatment system in which heat treatment is carried out on the objectsto be processed that have been subjected to the COR treatment, themethod comprising a pressure monitoring step of monitoring pressureinside the heat treatment system while exhausting the heat treatmentsystem a COR treatment system exhausting step of exhausting the CORtreatment system such as to satisfy a condition that the pressure insidethe heat treatment system is less than pressure inside the COR treatmentsystem, and a communicating step of terminating the exhaustion of theCOR treatment system when the condition that the pressure inside theheat treatment system is less than the pressure inside the COR treatmentsystem has been satisfied, and communicating the heat treatment systemwith the COR treatment system.

[0033] To attain the above object, in a sixth aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object processing apparatusthat processes objects to be processed, comprising a first treatmentsystem in which the objects to be processed are subjected to firsttreatment, a second treatment system that is communicably connected tothe first treatment system and in which the objects to be processed aresubjected to second treatment, and a load lock system that is interposedbetween the first treatment system and the second treatment system andis communicably connected to each of the first treatment system and thesecond treatment system, the load lock system having a transfermechanism that transfers the objects to be processed into and out ofeach of the first treatment system and the second treatment system.

[0034] Preferably, the second treatment system is a cooling treatmentsystem in which cooling treatment is carried out on the objects to beprocessed that have been subjected to the first treatment.

[0035] More preferably, the first treatment system is always in a vacuumstate, and the second treatment system is always in an atmosphericpressure state.

[0036] Still more preferably, the load lock system is disposed in aposition such as to form a line with the first treatment system and thesecond treatment system.

[0037] To attain the above object, in a seventh aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object processing method for aprocessed object processing apparatus including at least a load locksystem, a vacuum treatment system in which objects to be processed aresubjected to vacuum treatment, an atmospheric treatment system in whichcooling treatment is carried out on the objects to be processed thathave been subjected to the vacuum treatment, and a loader module, themethod comprising a load lock system transfer-in step of transferring anobject to be processed from the loader module into the load lock system,a first vacuum/atmospheric pressure switching step of evacuating theload lock system after execution of the load lock system transfer-instep, a vacuum treatment system transfer-in step of transferring theobject to be processed into the vacuum treatment system after executionof the first vacuum/atmospheric pressure switching step, a vacuumtreatment step of carrying out vacuum treatment on the object to beprocessed that has been transferred into the vacuum treatment system, aload lock system transfer-out step of transferring the object to beprocessed that has been subjected to the vacuum treatment out into theload lock system, a second vacuum/atmospheric pressure switching step ofopening an interior of the load lock system to atmospheric air afterexecution of the load lock system transfer-out step, an atmospherictreatment system transfer-out step of transferring the object to beprocessed from the load lock system out into the atmospheric treatmentsystem, an atmospheric treatment step of carrying out cooling treatmenton the object to be processed that has been transferred out into theatmospheric treatment system, and a loader module transfer-out step oftransferring the object to be processed that has been subjected to thecooling treatment out into the loader module.

[0038] To attain the above object, in an eighth aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object transfer method fortransfer means in a processed object processing apparatus including atleast a load lock system having the transfer means which transfersobjects to be processed, a vacuum treatment system in which the objectsto be processed are subjected to vacuum treatment, a heat treatmentsystem in which heat treatment is carried out on the objects to beprocessed that have been subjected to the vacuum treatment, and a loadermodule communicably connected to the load lock system, the methodcomprising a load lock system transfer-in step of transferring an objectto be processed into the load lock system, an evacuating step ofevacuating the load lock system after execution of the load lock systemtransfer-in step, a vacuum treatment system transfer-in step oftransferring the object to be processed into the vacuum treatment systemafter the evacuation in the evacuating step has been completed a vacuumtreatment commencing step of commencing vacuum treatment after executionof the vacuum treatment system transfer-in step, a first transfer stepof transferring the object to be processed from the vacuum treatmentsystem into the heat treatment system after the vacuum treatment hasbeen completed, a heat treatment commencing step of commencing heattreatment in the heat treatment system, a second transfer step oftransferring the object to be processed from the heat treatment systeminto the load lock system after the heat treatment has been completed,and a loader module transfer-out step of communicating the load locksystem and the loader module with one another and transferring theobject to be processed out into the loader module.

[0039] To attain the above object, in a ninth aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object transfer method fortransfer means in a processed object processing apparatus including aheat treatment system that has a first stage and in which heat treatmentis carried out on an object to be processed which has been placed on thefirst stage, a vacuum treatment system that has a second stage and inwhich vacuum treatment is carried out on the object to be processedwhich has been placed on the second stage, a load lock system that isdisposed for communication with the heat treatment system and the vacuumtreatment system and has the transfer means which transfers the objectto be processed, and a controller that controls the transfer means, thetransfer means having a processed object holding part that holds theobject to be processed and is freely movable through the heat treatmentsystem and the vacuum treatment system, the processed object holdingpart having first detecting means for detecting information relating towhether or not the object to be processed is present, at least one ofthe first stage and the second stage having second detecting means fordetecting information relating to whether or not the object to beprocessed is present, and the controller detecting a position of theobject to be processed based on the detected information, the methodcomprising a first positional relationship detecting step of detecting afirst relative positional relationship between a center of the object tobe processed in an initial position and a center of one of the firststage and the second stage, a transfer step of determining a transferroute for the object to be processed based on the detected firstrelative positional relationship, and transferring the object to beprocessed along the determined transfer route, a second positionalrelationship detecting step of detecting a second relative positionalrelationship between the center of the object to be processed afterhaving been transferred to the one of the first stage and the secondstage and the center of the object to be processed in the initialposition, and a position correcting step of correcting the position ofthe object to be processed based on a difference between the firstrelative positional relationship and the second relative positionalrelationship.

[0040] Preferably, the processed object transfer method according to theninth aspect of the present invention further comprises a processedobject holding part rotating step of rotating the processed objectholding part while the processed object holding part is still holdingthe object to be processed, so as to align a position of a referenceplane of the object to be processed that has been subjected to theposition correction with a predetermined position.

[0041] Also preferably, the center of the object to be processed in theinitial position is a center of the object to be processed in the loadlock system before transfer.

[0042] To attain the above object, in a tenth aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a processed object transfer method fortransfer means in a processed object processing apparatus including aload lock system that is communicably connected to a heat treatmentsystem having a first stage, in which heat treatment is carried out onan object to be processed which has been placed on the first stage, theload lock system being communicably connected, via the heat treatmentsystem, to a vacuum treatment system having a second stage, in whichvacuum treatment is carried out on the object to be processed which hasbeen placed on the second stage, the load lock system having thetransfer means which transfers the object to be processed, the transfermeans comprising a transfer arm that comprises at least two arm-shapedmembers, the arm-shaped members being rotatably connected together atone end of each thereof, and a processed object holding part that isconnected to another end of one of the arm-shaped members and holds theobject to be processed, the method comprising a processed object movingstep of rotating the processed article holding part in a plane parallelto a surface of the object to be processed about the other end of theone of the arm-shaped members, rotating the one of the arm-shapedmembers in a plane parallel to the surface of the object to be processedabout the one end of the one of the arm-shaped members, and rotating theother one of the arm-shaped members in a plane parallel to the surfaceof the object to be processed about the other end of the other one ofthe arm-shaped members.

[0043] Preferably, in the processed object moving step, the arm-shapedmembers and the processed object holding part are rotated in cooperationwith one another so as to move the object to be processed along adirection of disposition of the first stage and the second stage.

[0044] To attain the above object, in an eleventh aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a transfer apparatus that is provided in aload lock system that is communicably connected to a heat treatmentsystem, having a first stage, in which heat treatment is carried out onan object to be processed which has been placed on the first stage, theload lock system being communicably connected, via the heat treatmentsystem, to a vacuum treatment system having a second stage, in whichvacuum treatment is carried out on the object to be processed which hasbeen placed on the second stage, the transfer apparatus comprising atransfer arm that comprises at least two arm-shaped members, thearm-shaped members being rotatably connected together at one end of eachthereof, and a processed object holding part that is connected toanother end of one of the arm-shaped members and holds the object to beprocessed, and the processed object holding part is disposed to berotated in a plane parallel to a surface of the object to be processedabout the other end of the one of the arm-shaped members, and the one ofthe arm-shaped members is disposed to be rotated in a plane parallel tothe surface of the object to be processed about the one end of the oneof the arm-shaped members, and the other one of the arm-shaped membersis disposed to be rotated in a plane parallel to the surface of theobject to be processed about the other end of the other one of thearm-shaped members.

[0045] Preferably, the arm-shaped members and the processed objectholding part are disposed to be rotated in cooperation with one anotherso as to move the object to be processed along a direction ofdisposition of the first stage and the second stage.

[0046] According to the first aspect of the present invention, aplurality of treatment systems in which object to be processed areprocessed are communicably connected together, and at least one of thetreatment systems is a vacuum treatment system. As a result, theoperation of transferring the objects to be processed between thetreatment systems can be simplified, and hence a plurality of processesincluding at least one vacuum treatment can be carried out efficiently.

[0047] According to the second aspect of the present invention, a CORtreatment system in which objects to be processed are subjected to CORtreatment, and at least one vacuum treatment system in which the objectsto be processed are subjected to other treatment are communicablyconnected together, and a load lock system is communicably connected tothe COR treatment system and the at least one vacuum treatment system.As a result, the operation of transferring the objects to be processedbetween the COR treatment system and the other treatment system(s) canbe simplified, and hence a plurality of processes can be carried outefficiently.

[0048] According to the second aspect, a heat treatment system forcarrying out heat treatment is preferably connected to the COR treatmentsystem. As a result, heat treatment can be carried out efficiently afterthe COR treatment.

[0049] According to the second aspect, the COR treatment system and theheat treatment system are preferably always in a vacuum state. As aresult, the respective treatments in the COR treatment system and theheat treatment system can be carried out one after the other without thevacuum being released, and hence there will be no adsorption of moistureonto the surface of an object to be processed after the COR treatment,and thus an oxide film on the object to be processed can be preventedfrom undergoing a chemical reaction after the COR treatment.

[0050] According to the-second aspect, the load lock system ispreferably disposed in a position such as to form a line with the CORtreatment system and the heat treatment system. As a result, theoperation of transferring the objects to be processed in and out can befurther simplified, and hence a plurality of processes including the CORtreatment and the heat treatment can be carried out yet moreefficiently.

[0051] According to the third aspect of the present invention, at thesame time as carrying out COR treatment in the COR treatment system onan object to be processed, heat treatment can be carried out in the heattreatment system on an object to be processed that has already beensubjected to the COR treatment, and moreover an object to be processedthat has not been subjected to the COR treatment can be prepared whileawaiting completion of the COR treatment. As a result, the COR treatmentand the heat treatment can be carried out efficiently, with no wastageof time during the sequence of processes.

[0052] According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, beforecommunicating the load lock system and the heat treatment systemtogether, the heat treatment system is exhausted such as to satisfy thecondition that the pressure inside the heat treatment system is lessthan the pressure inside the load lock system, and then the heattreatment system continues to be exhausted thereafter. As a result, theatmosphere in the heat treatment system can be prevented from gettinginto the load lock system.

[0053] According to the fourth aspect, preferably, after communicatingthe load lock system and the heat treatment system together, the heattreatment system is exhausted such as to satisfy the condition that thatthe pressure inside the heat treatment system is less than the pressureinside the COR treatment system, and then the heat treatment system andthe COR treatment system are communicated together while continuing toexhaust the heat treatment system. As a result, not only can theatmosphere in the heat treatment system be prevented from getting intothe load lock system, but moreover the atmosphere in the heat treatmentsystem can be prevented from getting into the COR treatment system.

[0054] According to the fourth aspect, a fluid is preferably introducedinto the load lock system and the COR treatment system. As a result,convection and so on can be prevented from occurring when evacuatingfrom the heat treatment system.

[0055] According to the fourth aspect, the flow rate of the fluid fromthe load lock system into the heat treatment system and the flow rate ofthe fluid from the COR treatment system into the heat treatment systemare preferably equal to one another. As a result, pressure equilibriumcan be maintained in the heat treatment system, and moreover the exhaustflow direction can be fixed.

[0056] According to the fourth aspect, after an object to be processedthat has been subjected to the COR treatment has been transferred outfrom the COR treatment system, the heat treatment system and the CORtreatment are preferably exhausted, thus setting the pressure inside theCOR treatment system to a static elimination pressure for eliminatingresidual ESC charge. As a result, ESC static elimination can be carriedout without the atmosphere inside the heat treatment system getting intothe COR treatment system.

[0057] According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, beforecommunicating the heat treatment system and the COR treatment systemtogether, the heat treatment system is exhausted such as to satisfy thecondition that the pressure inside the heat treatment system is lessthan the pressure inside the COR treatment system. As a result, theatmosphere in the heat treatment system can be prevented from gettinginto the COR treatment system.

[0058] According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a firsttreatment system in which objects to be processed are subjected to firsttreatment and a second treatment system in which the objects to beprocessed are subjected to second treatment are communicably connectedtogether, and moreover a load lock system is interposed between thefirst treatment system and the second treatment system and iscommunicably connected to each of the first treatment system and thesecond treatment system. As a result, the operation of transferring theobjects to be processed between the first treatment system and thesecond treatment system can be simplified, and hence a plurality ofprocesses can be carried out efficiently.

[0059] According to the sixth aspect, a cooling treatment system forcarrying out cooling treatment is preferably connected to the firsttreatment system via the load lock system. As a result, coolingtreatment can be carried out efficiently after the first treatment.

[0060] According to the sixth aspect, the cooling treatment ispreferably carried out in the second treatment system always in anatmospheric pressure state. As a result, there is no need to carry outswitching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state inthe second treatment system, and thus the cooling treatment can becarried out in a short time period; moreover, the load lock system inwhich switching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure stateis carried out need not have a cooling mechanism, and hence the volumeof the load lock system can be reduced, and thus the switching betweenthe vacuum state and the atmospheric pressure state can be carried outin a short time period. As a result, the plurality of processes can becarried out more efficiently. Moreover, after having been transferredinto the load lock system, an object to be processed (wafer) will not beexposed to air convection due to the switching between a vacuum stateand an atmospheric pressure state for a long time period, and hence therisk of attachment of particles caused to fly up by such convection canalso be reduced.

[0061] According to the sixth aspect, the load lock system is preferablydisposed in a position such as to form a line with the first treatmentsystem and the second treatment system. As a result, the operation oftransferring the objects to be processed in and out can be furthersimplified, and hence a plurality of processes including the firsttreatment and the second treatment can be carried out yet moreefficiently.

[0062] According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, thesecond vacuum/atmospheric pressure switching step and the atmospherictreatment step carried out after the object to be processed (wafer) hasbeen subjected to the vacuum treatment are separated. As a result, thetotal time required for these steps can be reduced, and hence theplurality of processes can be carried out efficiently. Moreover, afterthe object to be processed (wafer) has been subjected to the vacuumtreatment, the atmospheric treatment step is reached only after the loadlock system transfer-out step, the second vacuum/atmospheric pressureswitching step and the atmospheric treatment system transfer-out step,and hence the cooling of the object to be processed (wafer) proceedseven before the atmospheric treatment step, and thus the coolingtreatment in the atmospheric treatment step can be carried outefficiently.

[0063] According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, thetransfer means transfers an object to be processed into the load locksystem, and then, after evacuation of the load lock system has beencompleted, transfers the object to be processed into the vacuumtreatment system, and then, after the vacuum treatment has beencompleted, transfers the object to be processed from the vacuumtreatment system into the heat treatment system, and then, after theheat treatment has been completed, transfers the object to be processedinto the load lock system, and then transfers the object to be processedout into the loader module. As a result, the operation of transferringthe object to be processed between the treatment systems can besimplified, and hence a plurality of processes including at least onevacuum treatment can be carried out efficiently.

[0064] According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, for eachstage, a first relative positional relationship between the center ofthe object to be processed in an initial position and the center of thestage is detected, a transfer route for the object to be processed isdetermined based on the detected first relative positional relationship,and the object to be processed is transferred along the determinedtransfer route. As a result, the transfer route to the stage can be setto be short. Moreover, a second relative positional relationship betweenthe center of the object to be processed after having been transferredto the stage and the center of the object to be processed in the initialposition is detected, and the position of the object to be processed iscorrected based on a difference between the first relative positionalrelationship and the second relative positional relationship. As aresult, the object to be processed can be placed in an accurate positionon the stage, and hence the efficiency of the transfer operation can beimproved, and thus a plurality of processes can be carried outefficiently.

[0065] According to the ninth aspect, the processed object holding partis preferably rotated while the processed object holding part is stillholding the object to be processed. As a result, the position of areference plane of the object to be processed relative to the stage caneasily be aligned with a predetermined position, and hence theefficiency of the transfer operation can be further improved.

[0066] According to the ninth aspect, the center of the object to beprocessed in the initial position is preferably the center of the objectto be processed in the load lock system before transfer. As a result,the transfer route to each stage can be set to be yet shorter.

[0067] According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, thetransfer means possessed by the load lock system, which is communicablyconnected to a heat treatment system and a vacuum treatment system,comprises a transfer arm that comprises at least two arm-shaped membersthat are rotatably connected together at one end of each thereof, and aprocessed object holding part that is connected to the other end of oneof the arm-shaped members and holds an object to be processed; theprocessed object holding part is rotated in a plane parallel to asurface of the object to be processed about the other end of the one ofthe arm-shaped members, and the one of the arm-shaped members is rotatedin a plane parallel to the surface of the object to be processed aboutthe one end of the one of the arm-shaped members, and the other one ofthe arm-shaped members is rotated in a plane parallel to the surface ofthe object to be processed about the other end of the other one of thearm-shaped members. As a result, the object to be processed can betransferred along a freely chosen transfer route to a freely chosenposition in the heat treatment system or the vacuum treatment system,and hence the efficiency of the transfer operation can be improved, andthus a plurality of processes can be carried out efficiently.

[0068] According to the tenth aspect, the arm-shaped members and theprocessed object holding part are preferably rotated in cooperation withone another so as to move the object to be processed along a directionof disposition of the first stage and the second stage. As a result, theprocessed article transfer route can be made shorter, and hence theefficiency of the transfer operation can be further improved.

[0069] According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, thetransfer means, which is provided in a load lock system that iscommunicably connected to a heat treatment system and a vacuum treatmentsystem, comprises a transfer arm that comprises at least two arm-shapedmembers that are rotatably connected together at one end of eachthereof, and a processed object holding part that is connected to theother end of one of the arm-shaped members and holds an object to beprocessed; the processed object holding part is rotated in a planeparallel to a surface of the object to be processed about the other endof the one of the arm-shaped members, and the one of the arm-shapedmembers is rotated in a plane parallel to the surface of the object tobe processed about the one end of the one of the arm-shaped members, andthe other one of the arm-shaped members is rotated in a plane parallelto the surface of the object to be processed about the other end of theother one of the arm-shaped members. As a result, the object to beprocessed can be transferred along a freely chosen transfer route to afreely chosen position in the heat treatment system or the vacuumtreatment system, and hence the efficiency of the transfer operation canbe improved, and thus a plurality of processes can be carried outefficiently.

[0070] According to the eleventh aspect, the arm-shaped members and theprocessed object holding part are preferably rotated in cooperation withone another so as to move the object to be processed along a directionof disposition of the first stage and the second stage. As a result, theprocessed object transfer route can be made shorter, and hence theefficiency of the transfer operation can be further improved.

[0071] The above and other objects, features, and advantages of theinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0072]FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the construction of avacuum treatment apparatus according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0073]FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing the construction ofthe vacuum treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[0074]FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagram showing the first half of a processedobject transfer sequence for the vacuum treatment apparatus shown inFIG. 1;

[0075]FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagram showing the latter half of thetransfer sequence, the first half of which is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B;

[0076]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a timing chart for pressure control inthe vacuum treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[0077]FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the construction of avacuum treatment apparatus according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0078]FIG. 7 is a side view schematically showing the construction ofthe vacuum treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 6; and

[0079]FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagram showing a processed object transfersequence for the vacuum treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0080] The present invention will now be described in detail withreference to the drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof.

[0081]FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the construction ofthe vacuum treatment apparatus according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing theconstruction of the vacuum treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

[0082] In FIG. 1, the vacuum treatment apparatus 100 has a first vacuumtreatment chamber 10 in which objects to be processed (hereinafterreferred to as “processed objects”) such as semiconductor wafers areprocessed, a second vacuum treatment chamber 30 that is connected in aline with and communicably to the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 andin which the processed objects are processed, a load lock chamber 50that is communicably connected to the second vacuum treatment chamber 30in a position in a line with the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 andthe second vacuum treatment chamber 30, and a loader module 70 that iscommunicably connected to the load lock chamber 50.

[0083] The first vacuum treatment chamber 10 has provided therein astage 11 on which a processed object is placed when treatment is beingcarried out, and a processed object holder 12 for carrying out handoverof the processed object. As shown in FIG. 2, a gas supply system 13 forsupplying N₂ gas or the like is connected to the first vacuum treatmentchamber 10 at an upper portion thereof, and an exhaust system pressurecontrol valve 14 is attached to the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 ata lower portion thereof. Moreover, a pressure measuring instrument (notshown) for measuring the pressure inside the first vacuum treatmentchamber 10 is installed in the first vacuum treatment chamber 10.

[0084] A transfer port (not shown) for transferring processed objectsinto and out of the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 is provided in aside wall of the first vacuum treatment chamber 10. A first transferport (not shown) is similarly provided in the second vacuum treatmentchamber 30. The portion of the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 inwhich the transfer port is provided and the portion of the second vacuumtreatment chamber 30 in which the first transfer port is provided areconnected together by a connecting unit 20. The connecting unit 20 iscomprised of a gate valve 21 and a thermal insulation unit 22 forisolating the interiors of the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 and thesecond vacuum treatment chamber 30 from the ambient atmosphere.

[0085] The second vacuum treatment chamber 30 has provided therein astage 31 on which a processed object is placed when treatment is beingcarried out, and a processed object holder 32 for carrying out handoverof the processed object. As shown in FIG. 2, a gas supply system 33 forsupplying N₂ gas or the like is connected to the first vacuum treatmentchamber 30 at an upper portion thereof, and an exhaust system pressurecontrol valve 34 is attached to the first vacuum treatment chamber 30 ata lower portion thereof. Moreover, a pressure measuring instrument (notshown) for measuring the pressure inside the second vacuum treatmentchamber 30 is installed in the second vacuum treatment chamber 30.

[0086] In addition to the first transfer port described above, a secondtransfer port (not shown) is also provided in the second vacuumtreatment chamber 30. A first transfer port (not shown) is similarlyprovided in the load lock chamber 50. The portion of the second vacuumtreatment chamber 30 in which the second transfer port is provided andthe portion of the load lock chamber 50 in which the first transfer portis provided are connected together by a connecting unit 40. The firstvacuum treatment chamber 10, the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 andthe load lock chamber 50 are thus disposed in a line. The connectingunit 40 is comprised of a gate valve 41 and a thermal insulation unit 42for isolating the insides of the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 andthe environment in the load lock chamber 50 from the ambient atmosphere.

[0087] The load lock chamber 50 has provided therein a processed objectholding part 51 that holds a processed object during transfer so thathandover of the processed object can be carried out, and a transfermechanism 52 for transferring the processed object holding part 51 intothe first vacuum treatment chamber 10, the second vacuum treatmentchamber 30 and the loader module 70. Through the transfer mechanism 52transferring the processed object holding part 51 holding a processedobject, the processed object can be transferred between the first vacuumtreatment chamber 10, the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 and theloader module 70, and handover of the processed object can be carriedout.

[0088] As shown in FIG. 2, a gas supply system 53 for supplying N₂ gasor the like is connected to the load lock chamber 50 at an upper portionthereof, and an exhaust system 80 is connected to the load lock chamber50 at a lower portion thereof. Moreover, a pressure measuring instrument(not shown) for measuring the pressure inside the load lock chamber 50is installed in the load lock chamber 50.

[0089] In addition to the first transfer port described above, a secondtransfer port (not shown) is also provided in the load lock chamber 50.A transfer port (not shown) is similarly provided in the loader module70. The portion of the load lock chamber 50 in which the second transferport is provided and the portion of the loader module 70 in which thetransfer port is provided are connected together by a connecting unit60. The connecting unit 60 is comprised of a door valve 61 and a thermalinsulation unit 62 for isolating the interiors of the load lock chamber50 and the environment in the loader module 70 from the ambientatmosphere.

[0090] In the construction of the vacuum treatment apparatus 100described above, there are two vacuum treatment chambers, i.e. a firstvacuum treatment chamber 10 and a second vacuum treatment chamber 30,connected together in a line. However, the number of vacuum treatmentchambers is not limited to two, but rather three or more vacuumtreatment chambers may be connected together in a line.

[0091] With the vacuum treatment apparatus 100 described above, aprocessed object transfer sequence is carried out as will be describedlater; however, in the case that a processed object is not transferredproperly, the processed object transfer sequence must be suspendedimmediately to prevent the processed object from being subjected toimproper treatment. The vacuum treatment apparatus 100 must thus havethe ability to accurately grasp the positions of the processed objectsbeing transferred. The vacuum treatment apparatus 100 thus has aplurality of position sensors as described below.

[0092] First, component parts with which each processed object comesinto direct contact, specifically the stage 31 (or the processed objectholder 32), the transfer mechanism 52 (or the processed object holdingpart 51), and a stage (not shown) provided inside the load lock chamber50 for temporarily holding the processed objects, each have a positionsensor, and using these position sensors it is detected whether or not aprocessed object is present. Moreover, whether or not a processed objectis present is detected according to the status of an ESC chuck providedin the stage 11 inside the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 or using aposition sensor. Creating software for detecting the positions ofprocessed objects based on information obtained through the detectionwould be easy for a person skilled in the art in the field of vacuumtreatment apparatuses; through such software, for example, a controller(not shown) that controls the operation of the transfer mechanism 52 andso on can detect the positions of processed objects being transferredthrough the vacuum treatment apparatus 100.

[0093] Furthermore, in the first vacuum treatment chamber 10, the secondvacuum treatment chamber 30 and the load lock chamber 50, positionsensor units 90, 91, 92, 93, 94 and 95 are provided along the processedobject transfer route in positions on either side of each of the gatevalves 21 and 41 and the door valve 61. Each of the position sensorunits is comprised of three position sensors, for example laser sensors,that point to an outer periphery of the processed object; the lasersensors are radially disposed facing the outer periphery of theprocessed object, or are disposed in positions corresponding to theouter periphery of the processed object, and not only detect theposition of the processed object, but also detect the center position ofthe processed object.

[0094] The controller detects a first relative positional relationshipbetween the center position of a processed object in the load lockchamber 50 before transfer (hereinafter referred to as the “initialposition”) and the center position of the stage 11 or 31, determines atransfer route for the processed object based on the detected firstrelative positional relationship, transfers the processed object alongthe determined transfer route, and then detects a second relativepositional relationship between the center position of the processedobject that has been transferred to the stage 11 or 31 and the initialposition, and corrects the position of the processed object on the stage11 or 31 based on the difference between the first and second relativepositional relationships. As a result, the transfer route to each stagecan be set to be short, and moreover each processed object can be placedin an accurate position on each of the stages 11 and 31, and hence theefficiency of the transfer operation can be improved, and thus theplurality of processes can be carried out efficiently.

[0095] The transfer mechanism 52 is a transfer arm comprised of anarticulated arm of a scalar type single pick type, a scalar type twinpick type or the like. A connecting pulley is disposed at a base portionof the transfer arm, and this connecting pulley is connected to asupport pulley disposed at a joint of the arm via a timing belt, wherebya rotational driving force is transmitted to the support pulley.Moreover, the connecting pulley is also connected via another timingbelt to a rotational angle pulley possessed by an encoder that detectsthe rotational angle of the arm.

[0096] The encoder electrically stores the rotation starting position ofthe rotational angle pulley, i.e. the starting position for movement ofthe transfer arm, as an origin, and moreover detects the moved distanceof the transfer arm by detecting the rotational angle of the rotationalangle pulley rotatably driven by the other timing belt in the form of adigital signal using a rotational angle sensor, and outputs the detectedmoved distance as teaching data used in the transfer of a processedobject, for example in judging whether or not positioning of theprocessed object has been carried out accurately.

[0097] The vacuum treatment apparatus 100 judges whether or notpositioning of a processed object, in particular, positioning of aprocessed object on the stage 11 or 13, has been carried out accurately,by comparing the position of the processed object detected by theposition sensors with the teaching data outputted by the encoder.

[0098] Moreover, the transfer arm that serves as the transfer mechanism52 is comprised of at least two arm-shaped members. The two arm-shapedmembers are rotatably connected together at one end of each thereof, andthe processed object holding part 51 is connected to the other end ofone of the two arm-shaped members. Moreover, the processed objectholding part 51 rotates in a plane parallel to the surface of theprocessed object about the other end of the one of the arm-shapedmembers, and moreover the one of the arm-shaped members rotates in aplane parallel to the surface of the processed object about the one endof the one of the arm-shaped members, and the other arm-shaped memberrotates in a plane parallel to the surface of the processed object aboutthe other end of the other arm-shaped member. As a result, eachprocessed object can be transferred along a freely chosen transfer routeto a freely chosen position in the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 orthe first vacuum treatment chamber 10, and hence the efficiency of thetransfer operation can be improved, and thus the plurality of processescan be carried out efficiently.

[0099] The two arm-shaped members and the processed object holding part51 rotate in cooperation with one another so as to move each processedobject along a freely chosen transfer route, for example along thedirection of disposition of the stages 11 and 13. As a result, theprocessed object transfer route can be made yet shorter, and hence theoperational efficiency can be further improved.

[0100] Moreover, over the stage 11 or 31, the processed object holdingpart 51 rotates while still holding the processed object so as to alignthe position of an orientation flat (reference plane) of the processedobject (wafer) with a predetermined position. As a result, the positionof the orientation flat of the wafer relative to the stage 11 or 31 caneasily be aligned with the predetermined position, and hence theoperational efficiency can be further improved.

[0101] Next, a description will be given of a processed objectprocessing method carried out by the vacuum treatment apparatus 100, anda processed object transfer sequence used in this method.

[0102]FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagram showing the first half of theprocessed object transfer sequence for the vacuum treatment apparatus100 shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagram showing the latter halfof the transfer sequence, the first half of which is shown in FIGS. 3Aand 3B.

[0103] In the following description, an example is given in which thevacuum treatment apparatus 100 carries out COR (chemical oxide removal)and PHT (post heat treatment) on processed objects as an alternative toconventional etching treatment (dry etching or wet etching). COR istreatment in which gas molecules are subjected to chemical reaction andthe products produced are attached to an oxide film on a processedobject, and PHT is treatment in which the processed object that has beensubjected to the COR is heated, thus subjecting the products produced onthe processed object through the chemical reaction in the COR tovaporization and thermal oxidation, and hence driving these products offfrom the processed object.

[0104] Here, in the COR carried out on the processed object, which iscomprised of a substrate forming a foundation and a predetermined layerformed on the substrate, an oxide layer (oxide film) or polysiliconexposed after removing a polysilicon layer in gate regions of thepredetermined layer is selectively etched; with this COR, the etchingrate is controlled such that the progress of the etching stops at thesurface of the substrate. Moreover, this COR includes a vapor phasechemical oxide removal process for forming gate openings that can berealized at low pressure by using a vapor of HF and NH₃ as an etchantgas.

[0105] In the following, the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 is madeto be a COR treatment chamber 10 in which the COR is carried out on theprocessed objects, and the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 is made tobe a PHT treatment chamber 30 in which the PHT is carried out on theprocessed objects. Here, the gas supply system 13 of the COR treatmentchamber 10 is preferably a shower head, in which case the introduced gascan be supplied uniformly through the COR treatment chamber 10.

[0106] The volume of the COR treatment chamber 10 is approximately 30liters, the pressure inside the COR treatment chamber 10 is in a rangeof 0.5 to 30 mTorr, the temperature inside the COR treatment chamber 10is in a range of 15 to 50° C., and the introduced gas is afluorine-containing reactive gas, a reducing gas, an inert gas or thelike. Inert gases include Ar, He, Ne, Kr and Xe gases, but Ar gas ispreferable.

[0107] Moreover, the volume of the PHT treatment chamber 30 isapproximately 50 liters, and the pressure inside the PHT treatmentchamber 30 is reduced in two stages, with the pressure during theprocessing being different to the pressure during the transfer.Moreover, there is no limitation to reducing the pressure in two stages,but rather multi-stage pressure reduction in which the pressure isreduced in more than two stages may be carried out in accordance withthe process conditions. Moreover, the temperature inside the PHTtreatment chamber 30 is in a range of 80 to 200° C., and the vacuum pumpexhausting rate is in a range of 1600 to 1800 L/min (when at 200 mTorr),and in a range of 0 to 100 L/min when the processing is completed (whenat 0.5 mTorr), although once the desired degree of vacuum in the PHTtreatment chamber 30 has been attained, the pump is not operated. Thegas introduced into the PHT treatment chamber 30 is for preventingscattering of particles and for cooling, and is a downflow gas (N₂). Asshown in (1) in FIGS. 3A and 3B, first, a processed object W1 is in theloader module 70, and the connecting units 20 and 40 are in a closedstate, and hence the COR treatment chamber 10 and the PHT treatmentchamber 30 are isolated from one another. The connecting unit 60, on theother hand, is in an open state. The processed object W1 has already hada predetermined pattern formed on a surface thereof using conventionaltreatment. As shown in (2), the first processed object W1 is transferredfrom the loader module 70 into the load lock chamber 50, and then thedoor valve 61 of the connecting unit 60 is closed. Next, the exhaustsystem pressure control valve 34 is closed, and the load lock chamber 50is evacuated. After the evacuation of the load lock chamber 50 has beencompleted, as shown in (3), the exhaust system pressure control valve 34is opened, and the gate valve 41 of the connecting unit 40 is opened.After that, the gate valve 21 of the connecting unit 20 is opened.

[0108] Next, as shown in (4), the processed object W1 held by theprocessed object holding part 51 is transferred into the COR treatmentchamber 10 by the transfer mechanism 52, and then as shown in (5), afterthe processed object holding part 51 and the transfer mechanism 52 havereturned into the load lock chamber 50, the gate valves 21 and 41 areclosed, and the COR is started. During this treatment, the interior ofthe load lock chamber 50 is opened to the atmospheric air.

[0109] Next, as shown in (6) and (7), a second processed object W2 istransferred from the loader module 70 into the load lock chamber 50, andthen the door valve 61 is closed, and moreover the exhaust systempressure control valve 34 is closed, and evacuation of the load lockchamber 50 is started. After the evacuation of the load lock chamber 50has been completed, the exhaust system pressure control valve 34 and thegate valve 41 are opened, and completion of the COR is awaited.

[0110] As shown in (8) and (9), after the COR has been completed, thegate valve 21 is opened, and the processed object W1 is moved from theCOR treatment chamber 10 into the PHT treatment chamber 30.

[0111] Next, as shown in (10) and (11), the processed object W2 is movedfrom the load lock chamber 50 into the COR treatment chamber 10, andthen as shown in (12), after the processed object holding part 51 andthe transfer mechanism 52 have returned into the load lock chamber 50,the gate valves 21 and 41 are closed, and the COR is started in the CORtreatment chamber 10 while the PHT is started in the PHT treatmentchamber 30.

[0112] After the PHT has been completed, as shown in (13), the gatevalve 41 is opened, and the processed object W1 in the PHT treatmentchamber 30 is moved into the load lock chamber 50.

[0113] Next, as shown in (14) to (16), the gate valve 41 is closed andthe interior of the load lock chamber 50 is opened to the atmosphericair, and then the processed object W1 in the load lock chamber 50 and athird processed object W3 waiting in the loader module 70 are replacedwith one another. After that, as shown in (17), the load lock chamber 50is evacuated. The gate valve 41 is then opened, and completion of theCOR on the processed object W2 is awaited. The transfer sequencedescribed above is accompanied by pressure control. The transfersequence described above is repeated until processing of the whole lotof processed objects is completed.

[0114] In each of the steps (1) to (16) in the transfer sequencedescribed above, judgement of the positioning of each processed objectbased on comparison between the position of the processed objectdetected by the position sensors described earlier and the teaching datamay be carried out, and in the case that positioning of a processedobject has not been carried out accurately in a particular step, thetransfer of the processed object may be suspended, and the step and theposition of the processed object in that step may be stored, whereby thestored data can be utilized as basic data for a re-treatment recipe.

[0115] The above is merely an example of the transfer method, but othertransfer patterns are also possible, for example, load lock chamber50→first vacuum treatment chamber 10→load lock chamber 50, load lockchamber 50→second vacuum treatment chamber 30→load lock chamber 50, andload lock chamber 50→second vacuum treatment chamber 30→first vacuumtreatment chamber 10→load lock chamber 50.

[0116] Furthermore, if necessary back-and-forth movement between thefirst vacuum treatment chamber 10 and the second vacuum treatmentchamber 30 is also possible. By moving a processed object back-and-forthbetween the COR treatment chamber 10 (first vacuum treatment chamber 10)and the PHT treatment chamber 30 (second vacuum treatment chamber 30),and thus carrying out the COR and the PHT repeatedly, the line width ofthe pattern formed on the processed object can theoretically be madefiner. Pattern miniaturization can thus be coped with.

[0117] According to the vacuum treatment apparatus of the firstembodiment of the present invention described above, the transfermechanism 52 transfers the processed object W1 into the load lockchamber 50, and after evacuation of the load lock chamber 50 has beencompleted, transfers the processed object W1 into the COR treatmentchamber 10, and after the COR has been completed, moves the processedobject W1 from the COR treatment chamber 10 into the PHT treatmentchamber 30, and after the PHT has been completed, moves the processedobject W1 in the PHT treatment chamber 30 into the load lock chamber 50,and then further transfers the processed object W1 out into the loadermodule 70. As a result, the operation of transferring the processedobject W1 between the plurality of treatment chambers can be simplified,and hence the plurality of processes including at least one CORtreatment can be carried out efficiently.

[0118] Moreover, according to the vacuum treatment apparatus of thefirst embodiment, in the case that the following process condition issatisfied, a sequence of two treatments can be carried out efficiently,without making the first vacuum treatment chamber 10 wait.

[0119] Process condition: (First treatment duration)≧(Second treatmentduration)+(First switching duration)+(Second switchingduration)+(Duration of gas charging/exhausting for load lock chamber 50)

[0120] Here:

[0121] First treatment duration=Duration of treatment in first vacuumtreatment chamber 10

[0122] Second treatment duration=Duration of treatment in second vacuumtreatment chamber 30

[0123] First switching duration=Time period taken to replace processedobjects between load lock chamber 50 and second vacuum treatment chamber30

[0124] Second switching duration: Time period taken to switch processedobjects between load lock chamber 50 and loader module 70

[0125] The first vacuum treatment chamber 10 and the second vacuumtreatment chamber 30 can be comprised of a suitable combination ofrequired modules selected from etching systems, film formation systems,coating systems, measurement systems, heat treatment systems and so on,with there being no limitation to the example described above.

[0126] Moreover, in the case that the first vacuum treatment chamber 10and the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 are always in a vacuum state,there will be no instances in which the second vacuum treatment chamber30 and the load lock chamber 50 are evacuated simultaneously, and hencein this case the second vacuum treatment chamber 30 and the load lockchamber 50 may share the same exhaust system 80.

[0127] Next, a description will be given of the pressure control duringthe operation of the vacuum treatment apparatus 100.

[0128]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a timing chart for the pressurecontrol in the vacuum treatment apparatus 100.

[0129] 1) While the PHT treatment chamber 30 is being evacuated, theinterior of the load lock chamber 50 is opened to the atmospheric airand a processed object that has not been subjected to COR is transferredfrom the loader module 70 into the load lock chamber 50, and then theexhaust system pressure control valve 34 (hereinafter referred to as the“PHT exhaust valve 34”) attached to the PHT treatment chamber 30 isclosed, thus starting evacuation of the load lock chamber 50.

[0130] Once the load lock chamber 50 has reached a set pressure, anexhaust valve of the load lock chamber 50 (LLM exhaust valve, not shownin FIG. 1 or 2) is closed, the PHT exhaust valve 34 is opened, andcontrol is carried out such that the pressure inside the PHT treatmentchamber 30 becomes less than the pressure inside the load lock chamber50; once it has been confirmed that this control has been completed, thegate valve 41 (hereinafter referred to as the “PHT-side gate valve 41”)between the load lock chamber 50 and the PHT treatment chamber 30 isopened, thus communicating the PHT treatment chamber 30 to the load lockchamber 50.

[0131] The PHT exhaust valve 34 is kept open even after the PHT-sidegate valve 41 has been opened, thus evacuating the PHT treatment chamber30 and hence preventing the PHT atmosphere from getting into the loadlock chamber 50. Moreover, a fluid (N₂) may be deliberately made to flowin from the load lock chamber 50 to prevent convection and so on fromoccurring.

[0132] 2) The pressure inside the PHT treatment chamber 30 is monitoredwhile evacuating the PHT treatment chamber 30, and the pressure insidethe COR treatment chamber 10 is controlled such that the pressure insidethe PHT treatment chamber 30 is less than the pressure inside the CORtreatment chamber 10.

[0133] Once the pressure inside the PHT treatment chamber 30 has becomeless than the pressure inside the COR treatment chamber 10, the exhaustsystem pressure control valve 14 (hereinafter referred to as the “CORexhaust valve 14”) attached to the COR treatment chamber 10 is closed,and the gate valve 21 (hereinafter referred to as the “COR-side gatevalve 21”) between the PHT treatment chamber 30 and the COR treatmentchamber 10 is opened.

[0134] The PHT exhaust valve 34 is kept open even after the COR-sidegate valve 21 has been opened, thus evacuating the PHT treatment chamber30 and hence preventing the atmosphere inside the PHT treatment chamber30 from getting into the COR treatment chamber 10. Moreover, a fluid(N₂) may be deliberately made to flow in from the COR treatment chamber10 to prevent convection and so on from occurring.

[0135] 3) The PHT-side gate valve 41 is opened using the sequencedescribed in 1) above, and then taking the load lock chamber 50 and thePHT treatment chamber 30 to be a single module, the COR-side gate valve21 is opened using the sequence described in 2) above. The PHT exhaustvalve 34 is kept open even after the PHT-side gate valve 41 and theCOR-side gate valve 21 have been opened, thus evacuating the PHTtreatment chamber 30 and hence preventing the atmosphere inside the PHTtreatment chamber 30 from getting into the load lock chamber 50 or theCOR treatment chamber 10.

[0136] Moreover, a fluid (N₂) may be deliberately made to flow into theload lock chamber 50 and the COR treatment chamber 10 to preventconvection and so on from occurring, and by making the flow rate of thefluid into the PHT treatment chamber 30 from the load lock chamber 50 beequal to that from the COR treatment chamber 10, backflow can beprevented from occurring.

[0137] 4) In the sequence described in 3) above, after the processedobject that has been subjected to the COR has been transferred out fromthe COR treatment chamber 10, the pressure inside the COR treatmentchamber 10 is controlled using the PHT exhaust valve 34 to a staticelimination pressure to eliminate residual ESC charge. As a result, ESCstatic elimination can be carried out without the atmosphere inside thePHT treatment chamber 30 getting into the COR treatment chamber 10.

[0138] Moreover, the treatment in the PHT treatment chamber 30 and theCOR treatment chamber 10 can be carried out continuously always in avacuum state, and hence a chemical reaction in which the oxide film onthe processed object after the COR absorbs moisture from the atmosphereor the like can be prevented from occurring.

[0139] In the transfer method described above, wafers that will be usedas products (i.e. product wafers) were transferred as the processedobjects; however, the transferred processed objects are not limited toproduct wafers, but rather may also be dummy wafers for inspecting theoperation of the treatment chambers and devices of the vacuum treatmentapparatus 100, or other dummy wafers used in seasoning the treatmentchambers.

[0140] Next, a description will be given of a vacuum treatment apparatusaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention, withreference to the drawings.

[0141]FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the construction ofthe vacuum treatment apparatus according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 7 is a side view schematically showing theconstruction of the vacuum treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 6.

[0142] In FIG. 6, the vacuum treatment apparatus 600 has a vacuumtreatment chamber 601 in which processed objects are subjected to vacuumtreatment, an atmospheric treatment chamber 602 that is connected in aline with and communicably to the vacuum treatment chamber 601 and inwhich the processed objects are subjected to other treatment, a loadlock chamber 603 that is situated between the vacuum treatment chamber601 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 and is communicablyconnected to the vacuum treatment chamber 601 and the atmospherictreatment chamber 602 in a position such as to form a line with thevacuum treatment chamber 601 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602,and a loader module 604 that is communicably connected to theatmospheric treatment chamber 602.

[0143] The vacuum treatment chamber 601 has provided therein a stage 605that serves both as a platform on which to place a processed object andas a lower electrode to which is applied a high-frequency voltage forgenerating plasma inside the vacuum treatment chamber 601 when carryingout treatment, a heater 606 that is built into the stage 605 and heatsthe processed object placed on the stage 605, a shower head 607 thatserves both as a supply system that supplies a reactive gas into thevacuum treatment chamber 601 and as an upper electrode for generating ahigh-frequency electric field inside the vacuum treatment chamber 601 incooperation with the stage 605 that serves as the lower electrode, adischarge port 608 that has a freely openable/closable valve (not shown)and from which the plasma and product residue generated inside thevacuum treatment chamber 601 are discharged, and a pressure measuringinstrument (not shown) for measuring the pressure inside the vacuumtreatment chamber 601. The interior of the vacuum treatment chamber 601is always in a vacuum state, and here is in a state such that vacuumtreatment can be carried out.

[0144] A transfer port (not shown) for transferring processed objectsinto and out of the first vacuum treatment chamber 601 is provided in aside wall of the vacuum treatment chamber 601. A transfer port (notshown) is similarly provided in a side wall of the load lock chamber 603disposed adjacent to the vacuum treatment chamber 601. The portions ofthe vacuum treatment chamber 601 and the load lock chamber 603 in whichthe transfer ports are provided are connected together by a connectingunit 611. The connecting unit 611 is comprised of a gate valve 612 and athermal insulation unit 613 for isolating the interiors of the vacuumtreatment chamber 601 and the environment in the load lock chamber 603from the ambient atmosphere.

[0145] The atmospheric treatment chamber 602 has provided therein astage 609 on which a processed object is placed, and a holder 610 thatholds the processed object placed on the stage 609. The stage 609 hasbuilt therein a cooling circuit (not shown) as a cooling mechanismthrough which a coolant can circulate, whereby the processed objectplaced on the stage 609 is cooled. Moreover, the interior of theatmospheric treatment chamber 602 is always opened to the atmosphericair. Therefore, cooling treatment in which a processed object that hasbeen heated during CVD or the like is cooled can thus be carried out atatmospheric pressure in the atmospheric treatment chamber 602.

[0146] Moreover, as a cooling mechanism, in addition to the coolingcircuit described above, the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 may havean inlet port through which a downflow gas for cooling, for example aninert gas such as N₂, Ar or He gas, is introduced into the atmospherictreatment chamber 602.

[0147] A transfer port (not shown) for transferring processed objectsinto and out of the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 is provided in aside wall of the atmospheric treatment chamber 602. In addition to thetransfer port described earlier, another transfer port (not shown) issimilarly provided in a side wall of the load lock chamber 603 disposedadjacent to the atmospheric treatment chamber 602. The portions of theatmospheric treatment chamber 602 and the load lock chamber 603 in whichthe transfer ports are provided are connected together by a connectingunit 614. As a result, the vacuum treatment chamber 601, the load lockchamber 603 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 are disposed so asto form a line in this order. The connecting unit 614 is comprised of agate valve 615 and a thermal insulation unit 616 for isolating theinteriors of the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 and the environmentin the load lock chamber 603 from the ambient atmosphere.

[0148] The load lock chamber 603 has provided therein a processed objectholding part 617 that holds a processed object during transfer so thathandover of the processed object can be carried out, and a transfermechanism 618 for transferring the processed object holding part 617into the vacuum treatment chamber 601 and the atmospheric treatmentchamber 602. Through the transfer mechanism 618 transferring theprocessed object holding part 617 holding a processed object, theprocessed object can be transferred between the vacuum treatment chamber601 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602, and handover of theprocessed object can be carried out. Moreover, the volume inside theload lock chamber 603 is set such as to secure the minimum spacerequired such that the operation of the transfer mechanism 618 will notbe hampered.

[0149] As shown in FIG. 7, a pipe 619 that communicates the interior ofthe load lock chamber 603 to the outside is provided in the load lockchamber 603 at a lower portion thereof. An evacuating pump 623 such as aturbo-molecular pump, and a valve 624 that enables the interior of theload lock chamber 603 and the evacuating pump 623 to be communicatedwith one another or shut off from one another are disposed in the pipe619. Moreover, a pressure measuring instrument (not shown) for measuringthe pressure inside the load lock chamber 603 is installed in the loadlock chamber 603. Furthermore, a gas supply system 620 for supplying N₂gas or the like is connected to the load lock chamber 603 at a lowerportion thereof. The load lock chamber 603 thus has a constructionaccording to which the interior thereof can be switched between a vacuumstate and atmospheric pressure using the pipe 619 and the gas supplysystem 620.

[0150] The loader module 604 has provided therein a processed objectholding part 625 and a transfer mechanism 626 similar to the processedobject holding part 617 and the transfer mechanism 618 described above.Using the processed object holding part 625 and the transfer mechanism626, a processed object can be transferred between a processed objectcarrier (not shown) installed in the loader module 604 and theatmospheric treatment chamber 602, and handover of the processed objectcan be carried out.

[0151] A transfer port (not shown) is provided in a side wall of theloader module 604. Moreover, in addition to the transfer port describedearlier, another transfer port (not shown) is similarly provided in aside wall of the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 disposed adjacent tothe loader module 604. The portions of the loader module 604 and theatmospheric treatment chamber 602 in which the transfer ports areprovided are connected together by a connecting unit 627.

[0152] In the construction of the vacuum treatment apparatus 600described above, there are two treatment chambers, i.e. a vacuumtreatment chamber 601 and an atmospheric treatment chamber 602,connected together in a line. However, as with the vacuum treatmentapparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, the number of treatment chambers is not limited to two, butrather three or more treatment chambers may be connected together in aline.

[0153] Next, a description will be given of a processed objectprocessing method carried out by the vacuum treatment apparatus 600, anda processed object transfer sequence used in this method.

[0154]FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagram showing the processed object transfersequence for the vacuum treatment apparatus 600 shown in FIG. 6.

[0155] In the following description, an example is given in which thevacuum treatment apparatus 600 carries out CVD and cooling on processedobjects.

[0156] In the following, the vacuum treatment chamber 601 is made to bea CVD treatment chamber 601 in which CVD is carried out on the processedobjects, and in the atmospheric treatment chamber 602, cooling iscarried out on the processed objects as atmospheric treatment. In FIGS.8A and 8B, as in FIGS. 3A to 4B, a connecting unit being white indicatesthat the gate valve is in an open state, and a connecting unit beingblack indicates that the gate valve is in a closed state.

[0157] First, as shown in (1) in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a processed object W1in the loader module 604 is transferred into the atmospheric treatmentchamber 602. At this time, the gate valve 612 is in a closed state, andhence the load lock chamber 603 and the CVD treatment chamber 601 areisolated from one another. The gate valve 615, on the other hand, is inan open state, and hence the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 and theload lock chamber 603 are communicated with one another.

[0158] Next, as shown in (2), the processed object W1 is transferredfrom the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 into the load lock chamber603, and then as shown in (3), the gate valve 615 is closed, andmoreover the valve 624 in the pipe 619 is opened, and then theevacuating pump 623 is operated, thus evacuating the load lock chamber603.

[0159] Next, as shown in (4), the gate valve 612 is opened, and then theprocessed object W1 held by the processed object holding part 617 istransferred into the CVD treatment chamber 601 by the transfer mechanism618. Then, as shown in (5), after the processed object holding part 617and the transfer mechanism 618 have returned into the load lock chamber603, the gate valve 612 is closed, and the processed object W1 issubjected to CVD in the CVD treatment chamber 601.

[0160] Next, as shown in (6), after the CVD has been completed, the gatevalve 612 is opened, and the processed object W1 that has been subjectedto the CVD is transferred out from the CVD treatment chamber 601 intothe load lock chamber 603.

[0161] Next, as shown in (7), after the processed object W1 has beentransferred out into the load lock chamber 603, the gate valve 612 isclosed, and moreover the valve 624 in the pipe 619 is closed, and supplyof N₂ gas or the like from the gas supply system 620 is commenced, thusreleasing the interior of the load lock chamber 603 to the atmosphericair. Once the pressure inside the load lock chamber 603 has reachedatmospheric pressure, as shown in (8), the gate valve 615 is opened, andthen the processed object W1 is transferred by the transfer mechanism618 into the atmospheric treatment chamber 602, placed on the stage 609,and held by the holder 610.

[0162] Next, as shown in (9), the stage 609 cools the processed objectW1, and once the processed object W1 has been cooled to a predeterminedtemperature (approximately 70° C.), as shown in (10), the processedobject W1 is transferred out into the loader module 604.

[0163] The vacuum treatment apparatus 600 then repeats the transfersequence described above until processing of the whole lot of processedobjects is completed.

[0164] In each of the steps (1) to (10) in the transfer sequencedescribed above, as described for the first embodiment of the presentinvention, judgement of the positioning of each processed object basedon comparison between the position of the processed object detected bythe position sensors and the teaching data may be carried out, and inthe case that positioning of a processed object has not been carried outaccurately in a particular step, the transfer of the processed objectmay be suspended, and the step and the position of the processed objectin that step may be stored, and the stored data may be utilized, wherebythe stored data can be utilized as basic data for a re-treatment recipe.

[0165] Moreover, with the vacuum treatment apparatus according to thesecond embodiment, as described for the first embodiment of the presentinvention, again it is possible to detect a first relative positionalrelationship between the center position of the stage 605 or 609 and theinitial position based on the information obtained by the positionsensors, determine a transfer route for the processed object based onthe detected first relative positional relationship, transfer theprocessed object along the determined transfer route, and then detect asecond relative positional relationship between the center position ofthe processed object that has been transferred to the stage 605 or 609and the initial position, and correct the position of the processedobject on the stage 605 or 609 based on the difference between the firstand second relative positional relationships. As a result, effects asdescribed earlier can be achieved.

[0166] Moreover, the transfer mechanism 618 and the processed objectholding part 617 may have the same structure as that of the transfermechanism 52 and the processed object holding part 51 in the firstembodiment, whereby effects as described earlier can be achieved.

[0167] The above is merely an example of the transfer sequence, and withother transfer sequences back-and-forth movement between the vacuumtreatment chamber 601 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 may becarried out if required. By moving the processed object W1back-and-forth between the CVD treatment chamber 601 (vacuum treatmentchamber 601) and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602, and thuscarrying out the CVD and the cooling repeatedly, variation in thethickness of the thin film formed on the surface of the processed objectW1 can be suppressed.

[0168] Moreover, the vacuum treatment chamber 601 and the atmospherictreatment chamber 602 can be comprised of a suitable combination ofrequired modules selected from etching systems, film formation systems,coating/developing systems, measurement systems, heat treatment systemsand so on, with there being no limitation to the example describedabove.

[0169] According to the vacuum treatment apparatus of the secondembodiment of the present invention described above, the CVD treatmentchamber 601 in which the processed object W1 is subjected to CVD and theatmospheric treatment chamber 602 in which the processed object W1 issubjected to cooling are communicably connected together, and the loadlock chamber 603 is disposed between the CVD treatment chamber 601 andthe atmospheric treatment chamber 602 in a position such as to form aline with the vacuum treatment chamber 601 and the atmospheric treatmentchamber 602 and is communicably connected to the vacuum treatmentchamber 601 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602. As a result, theoperation of transferring the processed object W1 between the CVDtreatment chamber 601 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 can besimplified, and hence the plurality of processes including CVD treatmentand cooling treatment can be carried out efficiently, and in particularthe cooling treatment can be carried out efficiently after the CVDtreatment on the processed object W1.

[0170] Moreover, the cooling treatment in the atmospheric treatmentchamber 602 is always carried out in an atmospheric pressure state, andhence there is no need to carry out switching between a vacuum state andan atmospheric pressure state in the atmospheric treatment chamber 602,and thus the cooling treatment can be carried out in a short timeperiod; moreover, the load lock chamber 603 in which switching between avacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state is carried out need nothave a cooling mechanism, and hence the volume of the load lock chamber603 can be reduced, and thus the switching between the vacuum state andthe atmospheric pressure state can be carried out in a short timeperiod. As a result, the plurality of processes including the coolingtreatment carried out on the processed object W1 and the switchingbetween a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state can be carriedout more efficiently.

[0171] If, for example, the switching between a vacuum state and anatmospheric pressure state and the cooling treatment are carried outsimultaneously as with the conventional vacuum treatment apparatus, thenthe load lock chamber must contain not only a transfer mechanism butalso a cooling mechanism, and hence the volume of the load lock chamberis increased, and hence it has been found that approximately 126 secondsis required for the switching between a vacuum state and an atmosphericpressure state and the cooling treatment; however, in the case that theswitching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state andthe cooling treatment are carried out in separate treatment chambers aswith the vacuum treatment apparatus according to the second embodimentof the present invention described above, only the switching between avacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state needs to be carried outin the load lock chamber, and only the cooling treatment needs to becarried out in the atmospheric treatment chamber, and hence the volumeof the load lock chamber is reduced, and thus only approximately 20seconds is required for the switching between a vacuum state and anatmospheric pressure state, and only approximately 15 seconds isrequired for the cooling treatment, i.e. only a total of approximately35 seconds is required for the switching between a vacuum state and anatmospheric pressure state and the cooling treatment.

[0172] Furthermore, after having been transferred into the load lockchamber 603, the processed object W1 is not exposed to air convectiondue to the switching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressurestate for a long time period, and hence the risk of attachment ofparticles caused to fly up by such convection can be reduced.

[0173] Moreover, according to the processed object processing method ofthe second embodiment the switching between a vacuum state and anatmospheric pressure state and the cooling treatment after the processedobject W1 has been subjected to the CVD treatment are divided betweenthe load lock chamber 603 and the atmospheric treatment chamber 602, andhence the time period taken for each of these processes can beshortened, and thus the plurality of processes including the switchingbetween a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state and the coolingtreatment can be carried out efficiently. Moreover, after the processedobject W1 has been subjected to the CVD treatment, the cooling treatmentin the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 is carried out after a processof transferring the processed object W1 out into the load lock chamber603, a process of switching between a vacuum state and an atmosphericpressure state in the load lock chamber 603, and a process oftransferring the processed object W1 out into the atmospheric treatmentchamber 602; cooling of the processed object W1 thus proceeds evenbefore the cooling treatment is carried out, for example in the casethat the temperature of the processed object W1 immediately after theCVD is approximately 650° C., it has been found that the temperature ofthe processed object W1 after the process of transferring the processedobject W1 out into the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 isapproximately 400° C. As a result, the cooling treatment carried out onthe processed object W1 in the atmospheric treatment chamber 602 can becarried out efficiently.

[0174] With the vacuum treatment apparatus according to the secondembodiment described above, CVD was carried out on the processed object;however, it goes without saying that the vacuum treatment carried out onthe processed object by the vacuum treatment apparatus is not limited toCVD, but rather any vacuum treatment that is accompanied by heattreatment may be carried out, and effects as described above can beachieved in this case as well.

What is claimed is:
 1. A processed object processing apparatus thatprocesses objects to be processed, comprising: a plurality of treatmentsystems that are communicably connected together in a line and in whichthe objects to be processed are processed; and a load lock system thatis communicably connected to said treatment systems, said load locksystem having a transfer mechanism that transfers the objects to beprocessed into and out of each of said treatment systems; wherein atleast one of said treatment systems is a vacuum treatment system, andsaid load lock system is disposed in a position such as to form a linewith said treatment systems.
 2. A processed object processing apparatusthat processes objects to be processed, comprising: a COR treatmentsystem in which the objects to be processed are subjected to CORtreatment; at least one vacuum treatment system in which the objects tobe processed are subjected to other treatment, said COR treatment systemand said at least one vacuum treatment system being communicablyconnected together in a line; and a load lock system that iscommunicably connected to said COR treatment system and said at leastone vacuum treatment system, said load lock system having a transfermechanism that transfers the objects to be processed into and out ofeach of said COR treatment system and said at least one vacuum treatmentsystem.
 3. A processed object processing apparatus as claimed in claim2, wherein said at least one vacuum treatment system is a heat treatmentsystem that is connected to said COR treatment system, heat treatment iscarried out on objects to be processed that have been subjected to theCOR treatment.
 4. A processed object processing apparatus as claimed inclaim 3, wherein said COR treatment system and said heat treatmentsystem are always in a vacuum state.
 5. A processed object processingapparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said load lock system isdisposed in a position such as to form a line with said at least onevacuum treatment system.
 6. A processed object processing method for aprocessed object processing apparatus including at least a load locksystem, a COR treatment system in which objects to be processed aresubjected to COR treatment, a heat treatment system in which heattreatment is carried on the objects to be processed that have beensubjected to the COR treatment, and a loader module communicablyconnected to the load lock system, the method comprising: a first loadlock system transfer-in step of transferring a first object to beprocessed into the load lock system; a first evacuating step ofevacuating the load lock system after execution of the first load locksystem transfer-in step; a first COR treatment system transfer-in stepof transferring the first object to be processed into the COR treatmentsystem after the evacuation in said first evacuating step has beencompleted; a COR treatment commencement step of commencing COR treatmenton the first object to be processed; a second lock system transfer-instep of transferring a second object to be processed into the load locksystem during the COR treatment on the first object to be processed; asecond evacuating step of evacuating the load lock system afterexecution of said second load lock system transfer-in step; a firsttransfer step of transferring the first object to be processed from theCOR treatment system into the heat treatment system after the evacuationin said second evacuating step has been completed and after the CORtreatment on the first object to be processed has been completed; asecond transfer step of transferring the second object to be processedfrom the load lock system into the COR treatment system; a simultaneoustreatment commencement step of commencing COR treatment on the secondobject to be processed in the COR treatment system, and commencing heattreatment on the first object to be processed in the heat treatmentsystem; a third transfer step of transferring the first object to beprocessed from the heat treatment system into the load lock system afterthe heat treatment on the first object to be processed has beencompleted; and a replacing step of communicating the load lock systemand the loader module with one another to replace the first object to beprocessed in the load lock system with a third object to be processedwaiting in the loader module.
 7. A pressure control method for aprocessed object processing apparatus comprising at least a load locksystem, a COR treatment system in which objects to be processed aresubjected to COR treatment, a heat treatment system in which heattreatment is carried out on objects to be processed that have beensubjected to the COR treatment, and a loader module from and into whichthe objects to be processed are transferred into and from the load locksystem, the method comprising: a transfer-in step of placing the loadlock system into an atmospheric pressure state and transferring anobject to be processed that has not been subjected to COR treatment fromthe loader module into the load lock system, while evacuating the heattreatment system; a load lock system evacuating step of terminating theevacuation of the heat treatment system, and evacuating the load locksystem down to a set pressure; a heat treatment system evacuating stepof terminating the evacuation of the load lock system after the loadlock system has reached the set pressure, and evacuating the heattreatment system so as to satisfy a condition that pressure inside theheat treatment system is less than pressure inside the load lock system;and a first communicating step of communicating the load lock systemwith the heat treatment system while continuing to exhaust the heattreatment system after the condition that the pressure inside the heattreatment system is less than the pressure inside the load lock systemhas been satisfied.
 8. A pressure control method as claimed in claim 7,further comprising: a first pressure monitoring step of monitoring thepressure inside the heat treatment system, after execution of said firstcommunicating step; a COR treatment system exhausting step of exhaustingthe COR treatment system while continuing to exhaust the heat treatmentsystem such as to satisfy a condition that the pressure inside the heattreatment system is less than pressure inside the COR treatment system;and a second communicating step of terminating the exhaustion of the CORtreatment system when the condition that the pressure inside the heattreatment system is less than the pressure inside the COR treatmentsystem has been satisfied, and communicating the heat treatment systemwith the COR treatment system while continuing to exhaust the heattreatment system.
 9. A pressure control method as claimed in claim 8,further comprising an influx step of introducing fluid into the loadlock system and the COR treatment system, after execution of said secondcommunicating step.
 10. A pressure control method as claimed in claim 9,wherein a flow rate of fluid from the load lock system into the heattreatment system, and a flow rate of fluid from the COR treatment systeminto the heat treatment system are equal to one another.
 11. A pressurecontrol method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising an exhaustingstep of exhausting the heat treatment system and the COR treatment, thussetting the pressure inside the COR treatment system to a staticelimination pressure for eliminating residual ESC charge, after objectto be processed that has been subjected to the COR treatment has beentransferred out from the COR treatment system.
 12. A pressure controlmethod for a processed object processing apparatus including at least aCOR treatment system in which objects to be processed are subjected toCOR treatment, and a heat treatment system in which heat treatment iscarried out on the objects to be processed that have been subjected tothe COR treatment, the method comprising: a pressure monitoring step ofmonitoring pressure inside the heat treatment system while exhaustingthe heat treatment system; a COR treatment system exhausting step ofexhausting the COR treatment system such as to satisfy a condition thatthe pressure inside the heat treatment system is less than pressureinside the COR treatment system; and a communicating step of terminatingthe exhaustion of the COR treatment system when the condition that thepressure inside the heat treatment system is less than the pressureinside the COR treatment system has been satisfied, and communicatingthe heat treatment system with the COR treatment system.
 13. A processedobject processing apparatus that processes objects to be processed,comprising: a first treatment system in which the objects to beprocessed are subjected to first treatment; a second treatment systemthat is communicably connected to said first treatment system and inwhich the objects to be processed are subjected to second treatment; anda load lock system that is interposed between said first treatmentsystem and said second treatment system and is communicably connected toeach of said first treatment system and said second treatment system,said load lock system having a transfer mechanism that transfers theobjects to be processed into and out of each of said first treatmentsystem and said second treatment system.
 14. A processed objectprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said secondtreatment system is a cooling treatment system in which coolingtreatment is carried out on the objects to be processed that have beensubjected to the first treatment.
 15. A processed object processingapparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said first treatment system isalways in a vacuum state, and said second treatment system is always inan atmospheric pressure state.
 16. A processed object processingapparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said load lock system isdisposed in a position such as to form a line with said first treatmentsystem and said second treatment system.
 17. A processed objectprocessing method for a processed object processing apparatus includingat least a load lock system, a vacuum treatment system in which objectsto be processed are subjected to vacuum treatment, an atmospherictreatment system in which cooling treatment is carried out on theobjects to be processed that have been subjected to the vacuumtreatment, and a loader module, the method comprising: a load locksystem transfer-in step of transferring an object to be processed fromthe loader module into the load lock system; a first vacuum/atmosphericpressure switching step of evacuating said load lock system afterexecution of said load lock system transfer-in step; a vacuum treatmentsystem transfer-in step of transferring the object to be processed intothe vacuum treatment system after execution of said firstvacuum/atmospheric pressure switching step; a vacuum treatment step ofcarrying out vacuum treatment on the object to be processed that hasbeen transferred into the vacuum treatment system; a load lock systemtransfer-out step of transferring the object to be processed that hasbeen subjected to the vacuum treatment out into the load lock system; asecond vacuum/atmospheric pressure switching step of opening an interiorof the load lock system to atmospheric air after execution of said loadlock system transfer-out step; an atmospheric treatment systemtransfer-out step of transferring the object to be processed from theload lock system out into the atmospheric treatment system; anatmospheric treatment step of carrying out cooling treatment on theobject to be processed that has been transferred out into theatmospheric treatment system; and a loader module transfer-out step oftransferring the object to be processed that has been subjected to thecooling treatment out into the loader module.
 18. A processed objecttransfer method for transfer means in a processed object processingapparatus including at least a load lock system having the transfermeans which transfers objects to be processed, a vacuum treatment systemin which the objects to be processed are subjected to vacuum treatment,a heat treatment system in which heat treatment is carried out on theobjects to be processed that have been subjected to the vacuumtreatment, and a loader module communicably connected to the load locksystem, the method comprising: a load lock system transfer-in step oftransferring an object to be processed into the load lock system; anevacuating step of evacuating the load lock system after execution ofsaid load lock system transfer-in step; a vacuum treatment systemtransfer-in step of transferring the object to be processed into thevacuum treatment system after the evacuation in said evacuating step hasbeen completed; a vacuum treatment commencing step of commencing vacuumtreatment after execution of said vacuum treatment system transfer-instep; a first transfer step of transferring the object to be processedfrom the vacuum treatment system into the heat treatment system afterthe vacuum treatment has been completed; a heat treatment commencingstep of commencing heat treatment in the heat treatment system; a secondtransfer step of transferring the object to be processed from the heattreatment system into the load lock system after the heat treatment hasbeen completed; and a loader module transfer-out step of communicatingthe load lock system and the loader module with one another andtransferring the object to be processed out into the loader module. 19.A processed object transfer method for transfer means in a processedobject processing apparatus including a heat treatment system that has afirst stage and in which heat treatment is carried out on an object tobe processed which has been placed on the first stage, a vacuumtreatment system that has a second stage and in which vacuum treatmentis carried out on the object to be processed which has been placed onthe second stage, a load lock system that is disposed for communicationwith the heat treatment system and the vacuum treatment system and hasthe transfer means which transfers the object to be processed, and acontroller that controls the transfer means, the transfer means having aprocessed object holding part that holds the object to be processed andis freely movable through the heat treatment system and the vacuumtreatment system, the processed object holding part having firstdetecting means for detecting information relating to whether or not theobject to be processed is present, at least one of the first stage andthe second stage having second detecting means for detecting informationrelating to whether or not the object to be processed is present, andthe controller detecting a position of the object to be processed basedon the detected information, the method comprising: a first positionalrelationship detecting step of detecting a first relative positionalrelationship between a center of the object to be processed in aninitial position and a center of one of the first stage and the secondstage; a transfer step of determining a transfer route for the object tobe processed based on the detected first relative positionalrelationship, and transferring the object to be processed along thedetermined transfer route; a second positional relationship detectingstep of detecting a second relative positional relationship between thecenter of the object to be processed after having been transferred tothe one of the first stage and the second stage and the center of theobject to be processed in the initial position; and a positioncorrecting step of correcting the position of the object to be processedbased on a difference between the first relative positional relationshipand the second relative positional relationship.
 20. A processed objecttransfer method as claimed in claim 19, further comprising a processedobject holding part rotating step of rotating the processed objectholding part while the processed object holding part is still holdingthe object to be processed, so as to align a position of a referenceplane of the object to be processed that has been subjected to theposition correction with a predetermined position.
 21. A processedobject transfer method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the center of theobject to be processed in the initial position is a center of the objectto be processed in the load lock system before transfer.
 22. A processedobject transfer method for transfer means in a processed objectprocessing apparatus including a load lock system that is communicablyconnected to a heat treatment system having a first stage, in which heattreatment is carried out on an object to be processed which has beenplaced on the first stage, the load lock system being communicablyconnected, via the heat treatment system, to a vacuum treatment systemhaving a second stage, in which vacuum treatment is carried out on theobject to be processed which has been placed on the second stage, theload lock system having the transfer means which transfers the object tobe processed, the transfer means comprising a transfer arm thatcomprises at least two arm-shaped members, the arm-shaped members beingrotatably connected together at one end of each thereof, and a processedobject holding part that is connected to another end of one of thearm-shaped members and holds the object to be processed, the methodcomprising: a processed object moving step of rotating the processedobject holding part in a plane parallel to a surface of the object to beprocessed about the other end of the one of the arm-shaped members,rotating the one of the arm-shaped members in a plane parallel to thesurface of the object to be processed about the one end of the one ofthe arm-shaped members, and rotating the other one of the arm-shapedmembers in a plane parallel to the surface of the object to be processedabout the other end of the other one of the arm-shaped members.
 23. Aprocessed object transfer method as claimed in claim 22, wherein in saidprocessed object moving step, the arm-shaped members and the processedobject holding part are rotated in cooperation with one another so as tomove the object to be processed along a direction of disposition of thefirst stage and the second stage.
 24. A transfer apparatus that isprovided in a load lock system that is communicably connected to a heattreatment system, having a first stage, in which heat treatment iscarried out on an object to be processed which has been placed on thefirst stage, the load lock system being communicably connected, via theheat treatment system, to a vacuum treatment system having a secondstage, in which vacuum treatment is carried out on the object to beprocessed which has been placed on the second stage, the transferapparatus comprising: a transfer arm that comprises at least twoarm-shaped members, said arm-shaped members being rotatably connectedtogether at one end of each thereof; and a processed object holding partthat is connected to another end of one of said arm-shaped members andholds the object to be processed; wherein said processed object holdingpart is disposed to be rotated in a plane parallel to a surface of theobject to be processed about the other end of the one of said arm-shapedmembers, and the one of said arm-shaped members is disposed to berotated in a plane parallel to the surface of the object to be processedabout the one end of the one of said arm-shaped members, and the otherone of said arm-shaped members is disposed to be rotated in a planeparallel to the surface of the object to be processed about the otherend of the other one of said arm-shaped members.
 25. A transferapparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein said arm-shaped members andsaid processed object holding part are disposed to be rotated incooperation with one another so as to move the object to be processedalong a direction of disposition of the first stage and the secondstage.